Covering material



Jan. 25, 1938. .2. A. TOPPING COVERING MATERIAL Filed April 22, 1933 INVENTOR J0H/v A. m p/1V5 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 25, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COVERING MATERIAL John A. Topping, Bronxville, N. Y.

Application April 22, 1933, Serial No. 667,423 1 Claim. (o1. 1087) This invention relates to covering elements or units of the interlocking type, particularly to units such as individual interlocking shingles, and more especially to covering units made of 5 flexible material, such as shingles having a base of fibrous material impregnated with a waterproofing material.

Interlocking shingles and shingle strips of numerous shapes and having slits or slots in the base material of difierent outlines heretofore have been used. Such an individual, interlocking shingle is shown in my prior Patent No. 1,592,015, which shingle is provided with a pair of slits extending inwardly from the edge to be exposed of the shingle. Said slits as proposed in said prior patent are cut as straight lines at an angle to said exposed edge, said slit at one side of the shingle being inclined to said edge in one direction while the other slit is inclined to said edge in the opposite direction. The shingle of said patent is thus provided with a portion or tongue at each corner of the shingle for overlapping upon a shingle laid adjacent to the first shingle by inserting an edge thereof in said slit. The laterally extending tongue formed between the inclined slit and said exposed edge thus underlies the side edge of the inserted shingle.

These features of the shingle of my prior patent are retained in the present invention which may be considered as an improvement upon the shingle of said prior patent. Said improvement consists in so forming the slits or cuts in the base material that the tongues are of such shape and are so related to each other 35 that the flexibility of the base may be utilized to better advantage to secure the underlap of the laterally extending tongues while maintaining the overlap of the tongues at the corners of the shingle; also to secure the interlock of the adjacent units while not interfering with the flexibility of arrangement which is secured in the shingle of my prior patent. Moreover, tongues of more substantial extent and of more suitable dimensions are secured by the present invention and variations in the cutting of the shingles or of the slits may be accommodated to maintain the desired relations of the shingles when assembled upon the surface to be covered.

The construction of the shingle of my invention by which I secure these advantages and improvements comprises cuts made as slits or as slots so formed that they have portions extending in like direction with the sides of the shingles and meeting said like extending portions at 55- points removed from the edge to be exposed of the shingle also have transverse portions extending inwardly in the body of the strip toward the center or center line of the shingle. While in general I utilize slits cut in the body of the base i as just described, I may utilize slots for a portion or a whole of the cut or I may otherwise modify the cuts to form the tongues described above, each cut always forming at a corner of the shingle one tongue extending toward the edge to be exposed and a tongue extending transversely to each corner tongue and joined to the center portion of the body of the strip. The lines upon which the adjacent tongues at each side of the shingle join the body of the shingle according to the construction of the shingle of the present invention do not meet. This feature makes it possible to utilize the flexibility of the base sheet to greater advantage while securing the interlocking of the adjacent shingles and the overlapping or underlapping of the respective tongues with respect to the side edge of the inserted shingle.

The invention will be more clearly under-' stood from the following description taken in connection with the drawing of which Figure 1 shows one form of a shingle embodying the invention.

Figure 2 shows another form of the shingle of the invention.

Figure 3 shows a further embodiment of the invention.

Figure 4 shows an assembly of the units of my invention.

Figure 5 is a further embodiment of the shingle.

As will be seen from the figures, the shingle of the invention like the shingle of my prior Patent No. 1,592,015 has like extending sides and an edge to be exposed extending transversely to said sides. Moreover, the shingle of the invention like the shingle of the prior patent has the slits or cuts extending inwardly into the body of the shingle from said edge to be exposed. However, in contrast to the shingle of the prior patent as shown in the figures, the shingle of the invention has cuts or slits meeting said inwardly extending slits preferably at the inner end of said inwardly extending slits or cuts and extending transversely of said inwardly extending cuts toward the center or center line of the body of the shingle. As stated above, however, I may use slots instead of slits for either the inwardly extending cuts orthe transverse cuts or I may otherwise form the cuts to produce the tongues above referred to.

In Figure 1 the shingle l is shown as having-a rectangular body, the side edges 2 being somewhat longer than the edge to be exposed 3 of said shingle.

Similarly to the shingle of my prior patent the shingle illustrated in Figure 1 is provided with slits 5 and 6 extending respectively from points on the edge to be exposed 3 near the corners of the rectangular body and inwardly from said edge tobe exposed 3. The slits 5 and 6 in the form illustrated in Figure 1 are cut at an angle with said edge 3 of the shingle and extend in opposite directions toward the center of the shingle. Thus are provided the tongues l and 8 at the corners of the shingle, said tongues are respectively joined to the body of the shingle along lines 9 and I0 shown dotted in Figure 1 and said tongues may be flexed along said lines 9 and I0.

Meeting said slits 5 and 6 at the inner ends thereof and extending transversely to said slits 5 and 6 are slits l5 and I6. Said slits extend in opposite directions from said inclined slits 5 and 6 and toward the center or center line of the figure. There are thus produced the tongues IT and 18 which are joined to the body of the shingle respectively along lines 19 and 20, said tongues I! and I8 therefore may be flexed along said lines l9 and 20. When said tongues I? and I8 are flexed, for example when they are bent downward from the face of the shingle, because of the cuts 15 and Hi there are provided spaces between the tongues l and 8 and the tongues H and l8 respectively in which the edge of the adjacent shingle to be interlocked may be inserted so that the tongues l1 and I8 may lie underneath said shingle.

It will be understood that the shingle of my invention like the shingle of my prior patent has like extending sides 2 shown in the particular embodiment of Figure 1 as being parallel so that, as may be seen from the assembly in Figure 4 the inserted shingle although not susceptible of lateral'movement when inserted in the slits may be moved in the direction of its side edges, that is, up and down on the roof or surface to be covered. Thus I provide the advantage of obtaining different exposures with the same shingle as is the case with the shingle of the prior patent. However, I secure a firmer interlock by the underlying tongues and 18 than is possible with the shingle of my prior patent or others known to me in the prior art.

In general the length of the cuts [5 and 18 should be made sufficient to provide the space in which to insert the adjacent shingle and their length therefore will depend somewhat upon the thickness of the shingles being interlocked. However, preferably the length of the cuts I5 and 16 need not be greater than that necessary to provide said space and proper flexibility and clearance in the interlocking arrangement, in order that there may be secured, when the shingles are laid in the interlocking arrangement upon the surface, substantially the effect of the single slits 5 and 6, that is, merely the effect of the tongues overlapping upon the inserted shingle. However, within the scope of my invention I may form the slits 5 and 6 and l5 and' 16 to produce modified designs in the assembled covering formed of the interlocking shingles.

It will be noted, however, that the cuts 5, 6 and I5, I 6 are so made with respect to each other that the lines upon which they respectively join the body of the shingle do not meet upon the shingle, and this arrangement and construction constitutes one of the important features of my invention.

In Figure 2 is shown a modification of the unit of the invention having an edge to be exposed formed of three lines such as the sides of an octagon. The assembly of such a unit is illustrated in Figure 4. The parts of the shingle and the several cuts illustrated in Figure 2 bear like numerals to those shown in Figure. 1. It will be noted that the tongues l and 3 and I! and I8 although of dilferent shape than those illustrated in Figure 1 are formed with relation to each other and with respect to the side edges of the shingle and the edge to be exposed of the shingle in the same manner as illustrated in Figure 1. The slits 5 and 6 extend inwardly from the edge 3 of the shingle in a direction parallel to the side edges 2 of the shingle which side edges in the form illustrated are also parallel to each other. The cuts l5 and H5 in the particular embodiment illustrated in Figure 2 extend respectively at right angles to the cuts 5 and 6 and toward the central portion of the shingle. It will be noted that here also the tongues I and 8 join the body of the shingle. along dotted lines 9 and Ill similarly to the tongues 1 and 8 of Figure 1. It may be noted also that as in Figure 1 said lines of joining are lines of flexure extending from said side edges 2 to the inner end of the cuts or slits 5 and 6. Likewise it may be noted'that the lines of joining or of flexure of the tongues l1 and 18 in both figures extend from the edge to be exposed of the shingle to the ends of the transverse slits which are next the central portion of the shingle.

The advantages described in connection with Figure l as to the overlying and underlying tongues and the space for insertion of the adjacent shingle, and also the provision for adjusting or changing the exposure of the units in the assembly are obtained as well for the form illustrated in Figure 2 as for that in Figure 1.

In the shingle illustrated in Figure 3 the tongues 1 and 8 are formed in a similar manner to those shown in Figure 2 but provision is made for slots 25 and 26 of appreciable width formed between the transverse cuts 21 and 2B and also between the cuts 29 and 30. In an assembly of shingles of considerable thickness the form illustrated in Figure 3 has the advantage of the provision of greater space for the side edge of the inserted shingle to pass between the edges 2land 28 of the slot 25 or between the edge 29 and the edge 30 of the slot 26.

It will be noted from a consideration of the various figures that the invention is not limited to the particular direction in which the inwardly extending cuts 5 or 6 extend with respect to the edge to be exposed. These cuts may extend toward each other at angles to the edge 3 as illustrated in Figure l or may be parallel to each other as shown in Figures 2 and 3 or they may extend at angles to the edge 3 as shown in Figure 5 but away from the central portion of the shingle. It is necessary, however, in order to provide the tongues of the shingle of the present invention that the transverse cuts l5 and I6 shall extend toward each other or toward the central portion of the shingle in order that the tongues l1 and I8 may extend inopposite directions from each other so that they ,may underlie the edge of an inserted shingle while the tongues l and 8 overlie said inserted shingle. I

Moreover, it will be noted 'from consideration of the figures that the tongues I1 and I8 lie within the body of the shingle, that is, entirely within the edge to be "exposed of the shingle.

In this respect the shingle of my invention differs from many shingles of the prior art.

The invention is not limited to the particular forms of cuts shown in the figures nor to cuts having straight line portions as illustrated. Tongues formed by curved cuts or a plurality of connecting cuts may be utilized Within the scope of the invention provided that the tongues I! and I8 are so formed as to extend laterally in opposite directions from the body of the shingle and so as to lie substantially or at least for the most part within the body of the shingle or within the edge to be exposed thereof. Thus substantially the tongues l! and I8 lie within the tongues 1 and 8 formed at the corners or sides of the shingle.

Moreover, the side edges 2 of the shingle, which in the embodiments shown in the figures are illustrated as being parallel, may be of various forms provided they are generally like extending or extending in the general direction of the length of the shingle, that is in a direction proceeding from the edge to be exposed, generally transverse to said edge, so that the inserted shingle may be moved in the direction of its length when inserted in the out or slit. Thus it is possible readily to adjust or change the exposure and for a given coverage it is then possible to increase or decrease the amount of material required. Various forms of the shingle body may be utilized within the scope of the invention to secure different patterns of the assembly in the roof and different forms of the cuts or slits or of relations of the slits may be utilized provided the relationships described above of the tongues are secured.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

An individual interlocking shingle having two like-extending side edges and an edge to be exposed extending generally transversely to said side edges, said shingle having a pair of slits in the body thereof extending inwardly from said edge to be exposed generally like-extending with said side edges, each of said slits lying between a side edge and the center of the shingle, said shingle for each slit also having a slot in the body thereof extending from said slit transversely thereto toward the center of the shingle.

JOHN A. TOPPING. 

